With today’s focus on lowering costs while improving outcomes, medical supplies — which account for 30% to 40% of a hospital’s total costs — are a prime target. Automated point-of-use systems for hospital supply chain management offer quick, convenient access to supplies, extensive reporting tools, and can be customized by size, security, and configuration. Inventory and supply usage are recorded, by patient, making charge capture consistent and accurate. With better control over inventory, the risk of running out of essential items is reduced and the clinical staff spend less time looking for supplies when they need them.
For example, the Omnicell® supply management system offers flexible, scalable cabinets that are either stand-alone systems or an adjunct to a medication management system. These cabinets use biometric identification, barcoding technology, and verbal confirmation for log-on, expired products, and latex warnings. A single cabinet can store seven years of data. They can be customized for the surgical suite, the cardiac catheterization lab, and other key clinical areas of the hospital. A two-cell cabinet measures 52” wide by 24” deep by 78” high.
Trina — which stands for Tele-Robotic Intelligent Nursing Assistant — is a first-generation nursing robot that is being built by a collaboration of Duke University’s engineering and nursing students and staff. Since the Ebola outbreak in 2014, new technologies, including robots, are being tested as alternatives to human contact to diminish risks for providers as they care for patients with infectious diseases. Funded by a National Science Foundation grant, Duke officials started working on the $85,000 robot about a year-and-a-half ago.
A key decision when planning an intensive care unit is whether to use a flat headwall or a ceiling-mounted boom for power, medical gases, and monitoring and communications systems. The traditional headwall system provides consistency and predictability in a room’s configuration and the location of equipment and supplies. A boom provides added flexibility in how the room is configured and provides easier access to the patient’s head and electrical/gas wall connections. Headwalls range in cost from $6,000-$8,000 while dual-arm booms may cost from $25,000 to $30,000. Factors to be considered include patient acuity; frequency of full-head access; whether procedures will be performed at the bedside; and budget.